Chapter 59: Bound by Power
Blinding white light consumed everything. Elias barely had time to process the sensation before his entire body felt like it was being pulled apart and reconstructed at the same time. His mind reeled as the Core's energy surged through him—raw, untamed, and impossibly vast. It wasn't just feeding him power. It was merging with him.
The world around him fractured, and for a moment, he was floating in a void of shifting golden patterns, like an infinite network of circuitry stretching beyond human comprehension. Data streamed past him—ancient battle strategies, energy conversion techniques, blueprints of machines far beyond even his imagination. The Vanguard hadn't just built weapons. They had been on the verge of something greater before the war wiped them out.
The Core's presence loomed over him again, a vast and unknowable intelligence watching, calculating.
"Final integration request: Confirm."
The words weren't spoken. They simply appeared in his mind, weightless yet absolute. He could still back out. The power was his to take, but if he accepted it, he would no longer be the same.
Elias gritted his teeth. There was no turning back.
"I confirm."
The Core pulsed, and everything snapped back into place.
The foundry walls blurred into existence, the blinding light fading. Elias staggered forward, gasping as new energy surged through his limbs. His exosuit's interface rebooted instantly, but it wasn't the same. The power readings were off the charts, his kinetic regulators automatically adjusting to compensate for the sheer output coursing through the suit's systems.
"Elias!" Marco's voice cut through the ringing in his ears.
Elias blinked, his vision sharpening. The team had surrounded him, weapons drawn, watching him warily.
Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're not dead. That's a good start."
Ivy's gaze flickered between him and the still-glowing Core, which now pulsed at a steady, controlled rhythm. "What happened?"
Elias flexed his fingers, feeling something new running beneath his skin—an awareness of the Core's energy, as if it had become an extension of himself. "The Core didn't just sync with my armor," he muttered. "It… chose me."
Reinhardt cracked his knuckles. "Okay. And what does that mean?"
Elias took a slow breath. The interface in his gauntlet displayed new system diagnostics, lines of unfamiliar code integrating seamlessly with his designs. He reached toward his chest plate, feeling the faint hum of stored energy beneath the reinforced plating.
Then, instinctively, he activated it.
The energy pulsed outward in a controlled burst, resonating through his armor, and in an instant, the suit shifted. The plating adjusted, the energy pathways realigning, and for the first time, Elias's exosuit wasn't just a machine anymore.
It was alive.
Marco's jaw dropped. "You just—what the hell was that?"
Lira took a step back. "Your suit… it's different now."
Elias clenched his fists, feeling the response time accelerate, the armor reacting to his every thought before he even moved. The integration wasn't just boosting his power. It was learning from him, adapting in real time.
He smirked. "Looks like I just built something even the Vanguard couldn't."
Kierian exhaled, his gaze sharp and calculating. "Then let's see if it's enough."
The ground rumbled beneath them.
A deep, distant tremor vibrated through the walls of Solmara, sending dust cascading from the ceiling. The Core's reawakening had triggered something far beyond this chamber.
Ivy cursed under her breath. "We just set off a beacon, didn't we?"
Kierian didn't hesitate. "Yes. And if the Primordial Lords weren't watching before… they are now."
Elias straightened, rolling his shoulders as his suit adjusted to the new energy flow. The power wasn't overwhelming anymore. It was his.
Cecilia twirled her dagger. "So. We leaving quietly, or are we fighting our way out?"
Elias's smirk didn't fade.
"We came here for power." He cracked his knuckles, the hum of his upgraded armor filling the air.
"Let's show them what we found."